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Behrend Data Breached by Virus

Penn State Live recently reported that up to 10,868 Social Security numbers were copied from historical data on computers at the Behrend campus after some of its legacy computers were infected with a virus. The Behrend site has the full story.

Even in cases such as this in which it cannot be determined with certainty that any data was pulled from a computer by infectious software, the University’s policy is to take a cautionary stance and notify individuals who may have been affected. This response is in line with the Pennsylvania Breach of Personal Information Notification Act, which went into effect in 2006 and mandates that the University notify anyone whose personally identifiable information is potentially disclosed when a computer is lost or compromised.

Penn State is sending letters today to those who may have had their Social Security numbers compromised.

To paraphrase Mark Twain: The reports of higher education’s death have been an exaggeration. American universities produce more research and relevant knowledge for the world at large than any other institutions I know of. Tuition may be too damn high, but over the long-run, undergraduate degrees are definitely worth the cost. But Penn State could be so much more. It used to be, I think.